Branson’s Baby

By the turn of the 21st Century, the West Coast Main Line was in dire need of major overhaul, and new traction. The Inter-City powerhouses such as the Class 86 and Class 87 had done their time, and a brand new era was due.

The train looks nice.
But for me I am looking at what features it includes. The pack is only worth getting if it includes more features than what the original Pendolino pack had. Other wise it just looks like a Virgin livery Pack for the original Pendolino pack.

Awesome! But why are ALL lights on on every picture of the 390? It's neither day nor night. And it can't be markers, because the markers have a much less intensity. Should it be like this, like what you did with the APT-P, where you switched the night lights on for the screenshots? Thanks!

Awesome! But why are ALL lights on on every picture of the 390? It's neither day nor night. And it can't be markers, because the markers have a much less intensity. Should it be like this, like what you did with the APT-P, where you switched the night lights on for the screenshots? Thanks!

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Bear in mind that this is still in development - so not all the scripting is complete as yet so hence why all the lights are on. I'm still awaiting the full feature list but I would imagine you'll have full control over the lights.

I wonder if the sounds are recycled or are they new sounds from the Pendolino

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Knowing DTG, probably recycled. It would be more money to spend on the project. By the looks of it, all we're getting is the Virgin livery and that's it. If they're going to have us pay for it, they should give us a completely new version of the Pendolino, not the old one in a Virgin livery. I understand that they did make a few minor changes, but to me it's not enough to justify creating it as a separate DLC. I hope they give a pretty steep discount to people who already own the old Pendolino. Watch them only take like 15 to 25% off. At least they're doing it in the normal Virgin livery and not the crappy new one.

Actually it has nothing to do with cost, it's about whether Virgin will give us access to the real thing to record audio - they wouldn't so we did the best we could. Also, to correct your comment that it's just a livery, you've clearly missed the comment in the other thread where I said explicitly that this is a complete rebuild to Pro Range standard - which basically means we started again from scratch, something you can clearly see if you compare the screenshots to the one in game.

Actually it has nothing to do with cost, it's about whether Virgin will give us access to the real thing to record audio - they wouldn't so we did the best we could. Also, to correct your comment that it's just a livery, you've clearly missed the comment in the other thread where I said explicitly that this is a complete rebuild to Pro Range standard - which basically means we started again from scratch, something you can clearly see if you compare the screenshots to the one in game.

Best, Steve

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Well unless I get a pretty good discount from owning the original Pendolino, this isn't gonna be worth my money. I'm not going for some cheesy 20% discount here. It would need to be like 50 or 60% off for me to get it. Sorry, but it just doesn't seem like a new product for me.

TS Steve.
Thanks for all the news and updates, it's great to be kept so well informed.
Now if you could just let us know that DTG are also throwing in a surprise announcement of a new section of the WCML from Brum to Preston, well that would really be the cherry on the cake this easter.

A nice and a very welcome addition in my opinionm as I do like these trains a lot. What will happen to those that own the original S9BL Class 390 Pendolino? Would this become an upgrade for that add-on or would this install to a new directory? I am not fussed either way as I can tweak my scenarios to use the new Pendolino train as AI on my scenarios. But I hope that this new Class 390 will include the Alstom branded Pendolino and the Virgin "Ribbon" livery as well.

To be fair i was waiting for a list of features to compare what was different from the 1st release year's ago, the other thing it's the reskin colour do look miles off and unrealistic but waiting for the list of features and more detail's on pack.

I am sure there will be more to this new 390 than just a VTWC skin. As I think that DTG should include the Alstom, VT and the new VT liveries to add variations to the pack. Also I can add that extra realism to my scenarios. As for the fictional IC, LMS and the GNER liveries. I have doubts they will be covered on the new 390 unless someone knows something I don't .

I am sure there will be more to this new 390 than just a VTWC skin. As I think that DTG should include the Alstom, VT and the new VT liveries to add variations to the pack. Also I can add that extra realism to my scenarios. As for the fictional IC, LMS and the GNER liveries. I have doubts they will be covered on the new 390 unless someone knows something I don't .

But the Alstom Pendolino livery does look the part though.

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I think the VT flowing silk and the Alstom will be another market place product

The windows should be tinted black, as because they aren't they look too big. Also, the Virgin badge is a little too low. Other than that, it looks good. Will there be new sounds? I'm happy to see the tilt is working in the cab, and in the passenger view!

TS Steve.
Thanks for all the news and updates, it's great to be kept so well informed.
Now if you could just let us know that DTG are also throwing in a surprise announcement of a new section of the WCML from Brum to Preston, well that would really be the cherry on the cake this easter.

A nice and a very welcome addition in my opinionm as I do like these trains a lot. What will happen to those that own the original S9BL Class 390 Pendolino? Would this become an upgrade for that add-on or would this install to a new directory? I am not fussed either way as I can tweak my scenarios to use the new Pendolino train as AI on my scenarios. But I hope that this new Class 390 will include the Alstom branded Pendolino and the Virgin "Ribbon" livery as well.

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As I mentioned in this thread, as this is an extensive rework and remodel of the set, and being brought to the Pro Range library, we felt it was more appropriate not to disturb the existing set (as there are numerous scenarios on Workshop and lots of people that still love the original pack). So this version will install into the DTG folder and not the S9BL one.

As for the additional liveries, we won't be doing them at this time. We've focused on creating the most iconic livery they've worn for most of their life. I'm not saying we won't ever do the other liveries (except the Alstom one, as we don't have that licence) because we may do them at some point in the future.

To be fair i was waiting for a list of features to compare what was different from the 1st release year's ago, the other thing it's the reskin colour do look miles off and unrealistic but waiting for the list of features and more detail's on pack.

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Here's the list of features as promised:

Includes both the 9 and 11 vehicle consists of the Pendolino in Virgin Trains West Coast (Classic) Livery

Complete rebuild of the Pendolino from scratch including brand new exterior model, enhancement of the cab and passenger interior

Completely reworked traction and braking physics to more closely replicate the actual performance of Pendolino

Eco and Boost throttle modes

Reworked Speed Set to allow more accurate control over speed

AWS Brake Demand (Brake will remain on for a set time after failing to acknowledge AWS alarm)

Simplified form of TASS (Tilt Authorization and Speed Supervision), simplified in that speed limits and braking curves are automatically calculated as opposed to receiving information from trackside balises (as the real one does). (TASS will also sound an alarm if 3.5mph above line speed or the braking curve and trigger an emergency brake application if 6mph above).

Sanding only available during braking, and automatically applied via emergency braking

Four challenging Career Scenarios for the WCML: Trent Valley Route

Quick Drive Compatible

As for the colour, that's all dictated to us by Virgin themselves, so we can't do anything with that. Also, you should bear in mind that we're showing a low quality jpeg image that may have been artificially enhanced to make it more vibrant which may introduce some inherent variation in the colour.

What's the starting procedures? Just like in real life (without TMS and GSM-R)?

Is the horn changed to a two-tone horn, just like IRL?

Can you open/close doors in the cab or do you need to press the key "T"?

Does the DRA work?

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Updated my post above to incorporate some of the responses to your questions. The ones not mentioned is the pax door controls, which is still on the T key, the Alarm Acknowledge button works, it has a two-tone horn and I'll need to get back to you on the fault lights - I need more info on this from the Dev guys.

EDIT: All the fault lights can theoretically illuminate but don't actually do anything since most of them will be game over faults.

I've just looked at the images and it looks like the pantograph coaches are still the wrong way round. Also, there are support to be 6 windows in the end units and 8 in the carriages in between. In the model, there are only 5 windows on the end units.

Steve,
It will be nice to even delay the release a bit just so the more recent Virgin livery can be added. It will save third parties from having to do the work and most people will rather have it included rather than a separate product or freeware download

Thanks for clearing that up for me TrainSim-Steve. I am looking forward to making use of this new train pack when it is released. As for the Alstom livery and the other odd-ball ones. I am sure that the Train Sim community will take care of that Alstom branded pendolino once the pack is available to the public .

I wish the development team all the best with this one and there will be Workshop scenarios for this to come from me on the other parts of the WCML for sure.

By the turn of the 21st Century, the West Coast Main Line was in dire need of major overhaul, and new traction. The Inter-City powerhouses such as the Class 86 and Class 87 had done their time, and a brand new era was due.

Actually it has nothing to do with cost, it's about whether Virgin will give us access to the real thing to record audio - they wouldn't so we did the best we could. Also, to correct your comment that it's just a livery, you've clearly missed the comment in the other thread where I said explicitly that this is a complete rebuild to Pro Range standard - which basically means we started again from scratch, something you can clearly see if you compare the screenshots to the one in game.

Will this be a free update if owners of the 390 have it already or a separate one

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Q: Jay, for those that already own the Class 390 will this be a free update?

A: As this is an extensive rework and remodel of the set, and being brought to the Pro Range library, we felt it was more appropriate not to disturb the existing set (as there are numerous scenarios on Workshop and lots of people that still love the original pack). So what this means is that this will release as a separate pack and we're keen to add a reasonable discount for all of you that currently own the existing pack.

I've just looked at the images and it looks like the pantograph coaches are still the wrong way round. Also, there are support to be 6 windows in the end units and 8 in the carriages in between. In the model, there are only 5 windows on the end units.

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I didn't even notice until I brought that up somewhere else, but the standard class end unit has 5 windows. First class end unit has 6, so that image is correct in that regard.